


You Fight Like My Sister!

by enchantedsleeper



Category: Road to El Dorado
Genre: Bromance, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-13
Updated: 2011-03-13
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enchantedsleeper/pseuds/enchantedsleeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short what-if fic. What if Miguel really had a sister whom Tulio taught to fight? Two-shot, pre-filmverse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I TAUGHT your sister!

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: Hello everyone! I was just introduced to this site by a friend and the first thing I did was to check whether it had a Road to El Dorado category XD I'm hoping I'll be able to help expand it with some interesting fics! This first one was inspired by a line in the film, although I later found out that it was a misheard line. Remember when Miguel and Tulio were fake-fighting to get away from those soldiers, Miguel says, "Ah, you fight like my sister!" and Tulio says, "I've fought your sister! That's a compliment!" Well, I always heard that line as "I taught your sister" and so was born the plot bunny for this fic. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: The Road to El Dorado and related awesomeness is © DreamWorks Pictures. However, I do own Miguel's sister and the plot of this fanfic. So no stealy plz thx.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> Author's Notes: Hello everyone! I was just introduced to this site by a friend and the first thing I did was to check whether it had a Road to El Dorado category XD I'm hoping I'll be able to help expand it with some interesting fics! This first one was inspired by a line in the film, although I later found out that it was a misheard line. Remember when Miguel and Tulio were fake-fighting to get away from those soldiers, Miguel says, "Ah, you fight like my sister!" and Tulio says, "I've fought your sister! That's a compliment!" Well, I always heard that line as "I taught your sister" and so was born the plot bunny for this fic. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: The Road to El Dorado and related awesomeness is © DreamWorks Pictures. However, I do own Miguel's sister and the plot of this fanfic. So no stealy plz thx.

_Spain, 1510_

“Tag! You’re it!”

The sounds of childish laughter rang around the streets of Madrid as two fair-haired children chased each other in and out of alleyways. The younger child, a girl, tackled her older brother, and they fell to the ground in a heap of dusty, patched clothing. “Now _you’re_ it!”

“All right, all right,” her brother capitulated. “Get off me, then, Rosa.”

But Rosa was distracted, staring down the street at something her brother couldn’t see, pinned flat on his back as he was. “Miguel!” she said suddenly, urgently. “Look! It’s Tulio!”

“What?” Miguel sat up, and Rosa slid off him, allowing him to climb to his feet. Now Miguel could see what she’d spotted: a slim, black-haired teenager haring towards them at speed, closely followed by a group of angry guards.

“What did he…” began Miguel, while Rosa beamed and waved. “Tulio! Hey, Tulio!”

Tulio grinned and waved back even as he sped towards them. As he caught up to the two siblings, he grabbed their hands simultaneously and pulled them with him. Miguel’s eyes widened as he noticed two long swords clanking at Tulio’s waist. He had a feeling he knew why the guards were chasing Tulio. Still, he kept his mouth shut and concentrated on running; there’d be time for questions later.

Abruptly, Tulio darted down a side alley, and brother and sister found themselves being yanked after him. He stopped just inside the mouth of the alley and released his grip on them both; Rosa opened her mouth to ask a question, and both boys simultaneously clapped their hands over it, straining their ears for the guards. Rosa frowned in annoyance, but kept quiet. The sound of running feet grew closer, and the three children could hear the guards shouting to one another.

“Which way did they go?”

“They? We’re only after one boy!”

“No, no, he had two others with him! I saw them! Kids with golden hair!”

“What?” The footsteps skidded to a halt. A thump was heard; evidently one of the guards had hit the other over the head. “This is Spain, idiot! No one like that lives here!”

“Barquin thinks he’s seeing angels,” someone muttered, and a few laughed.

“Come on, then,” said an annoyed voice. “We’ve probably lost him by now.”

The guards moved away, though without the same drive as before; the heat of the moment had died down.

Tulio silently counted to five, mouthing the numbers to the others, and then peeked out of the alley. “They’ve gone!” he announced, walking out of the shadows and into the sunshine.

Miguel moved to stand next to him, stretching his arms above his head. Although younger than Tulio by two years, he’d always been taller than his friend, but lately Tulio had shot up in height, and now his head just about rose above Miguel’s. In build, however, he was slim-hipped and scrawny, whereas Miguel was broad and naturally strong. Tulio tended to make him do any heavy lifting that came their way.

“So what’s with those?” Miguel asked, nodding towards the swords.

Rosa was staring at them, her eyes round as doubloons. “Did you _steal_ them?” she asked.

Tulio pretended to be affronted. “I _never_ steal! I just borrowed them for a long period of time,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. Under his breath, he added to Miguel, “I reckon they’ll fetch us a few pesetas.” Miguel smiled slightly; Tulio had a one-track mind.

“Now, Rosa, it’s time you learnt how to fight like a man!” announced Tulio. Rosa giggled.

“What about Miguel?” she asked. Miguel was about to tell her that he already knew how to swordfight, but Tulio got in first.

“Miguel will always fight like a girl. There’s no hope for him.”

“Blaggard!” With a quick movement, Miguel drew one of the swords in Tulio’s belt. “You will pay for those words, knave, with your life.”

“We shall see!” Tulio smoothly drew the other sword and pointed it at Miguel. “If your sword is as dull as your _brain_ , it will be an easy fight!”

Miguel gasped in mock outrage. “You had better hope your arm can move as fast as your tongue.” Both boys leapt forward, the stolen swords meeting in the middle with a resounding clang. Rosa shrieked with laughter at the insults, impressed by how grown-up and clever they sounded. She settled down to watch the swordfight with due admiration.

After several blows, however, she started to become bored. “I want to try!” she whined. “Migueeel! Tuliooo!”

Tulio suddenly jumped aside, causing Miguel to stagger and overbalance as his target disappeared unexpectedly. “We must answer the lady’s summons,” he said with affected gallantry, bowing to Rosa. In truth he was glad to stop the fight; his quick and nimble jabs were doing nothing to penetrate Miguel’s solid defence, and his arm was getting tired.

“You escape with your life this time, fool,” said Miguel, getting up and dusting himself off. He proffered his sword to Rosa, hilt-first. “Here, Rosa, you can have my sword.” She grasped it inexpertly, and he moved behind her to adjust her grip.

“Let the _expert_ teach her how to duel,” said Tulio, pushing Miguel playfully out of the way. “Now, Rosa, this is how you lunge.” He demonstrated the move with his own sword, and Rosa attempted to copy him. Tulio nudged her feet into a better starting position and straightened her arm, and she repeated the move with much more success.

Miguel leant against the wall and watched them, blowing a few strands of long blonde hair out of his eyes. It tended to go everywhere when he fought, whereas Tulio’s was just about long enough to tie back into a straggly ponytail, allowing him to appear calm and unruffled even in the midst of a battle. Miguel grinned to himself. Tulio was such a ladies’ man, even at the age of fourteen, always showing off in front of girls. And Miguel hadn’t missed the admiration in his sister’s eyes whenever she looked at Tulio. She really idolised him. But to Tulio, Miguel knew, Rosa was only his best friend’s little sister: he would always look out for her, but nothing more than that. In any case, Tulio was far too fickle with relationships to be trusted with his sister.

Still, Miguel was happy to let Tulio teach Rosa how to duel. Tulio had taught him, after all, and his technique was better even if he had yet to build up the muscle to give his blows real power.

The lesson went on until sunset, when Miguel had to gently remind his sister that they needed to be home to help their mother with the dinner. Rosa skipped ahead, tired but thrilled with the new skill she was learning, and the two boys hung back to talk to each other.

“Your sister’s a fast learner,” said Tulio in a low voice. “Much better than you were,” he added with a smirk.

“I was younger!” protested Miguel. “And you were a terrible teacher. You kept hitting me around the head when I got it wrong! Even though you barely knew any more than I did!”

Tulio gave him a patronising smile. “Whatever you say, oh dull-brained one,” he replied. Miguel scowled and gave him a shove that sent him staggering into a wall. A joke was all very well, but Miguel didn’t like Tulio dwelling on the fact that he was cleverer than Miguel. Most of the time it didn’t bother him, since they both had their strengths and their weaknesses, but it was a sore spot nonetheless.

“Sorry, sorry,” apologised Tulio, and Miguel knew that he meant it. “You’re a better fighter than me now, anyway.” Miguel wasn’t sure how true that was, but Tulio was trying to make peace, and so he accepted the compliment with a nod.

“Anyway,” said Tulio, his usual confident tone returning, “I have a feeling she may just be the money-maker we’ve been waiting for!”

Miguel groaned. “Not _another_ one of your plans. Have you forgotten what happened to us the last time we tried one of those?”

“But this time it’s different,” Tulio replied earnestly. “It’ll really work, I swear! Trust me.”

Miguel sighed and shook his head. They had reached the place where they always parted, since Tulio lived in a different direction to Miguel. Rosa had already gone on down the street that led to their little home.

“Oh, and by the way,” said Tulio, fishing in his pocket, “I managed to pick one of the guards’ pockets while I was out earlier. Here’s your share.” He dropped a few pesetas into Miguel’s hand.

Miguel blinked at them. “My share? I didn’t do anything.”

“You helped me escape! So did Rosa, so share them with her, okay?” Tulio was already walking away. Miguel shrugged and pocketed the coins. It wasn’t often Tulio chose to share his wealth, so he’d make the most of it.

  



	2. I have a cunning plan

It was a fairly simple plan. Miguel and Rosa would start up an argument in the street, which would turn into a swordfight and hopefully draw a crowd. Whilst they were distracted, Tulio and his nimble fingers would relieve the crowd of their spare gold. The reason that they'd never done it before was because it required three people to carry out, and they could never really trust any of the other street rogues not to try and take more than their fair share of the profits – or all of them. No one is wary of being conned like conmen.

"So… we start fighting, and you pick pockets?" summarised Miguel after Tulio had outlined the plan to him.

"…Pretty much, yeah," said Tulio. When put like that, the plan seemed too simple, too shaky. It was bound to go wrong. He was just about to tell Miguel to forget it when his friend beamed at him.

"Sounds good to me!"

Tulio breathed a silent sigh of relief. He felt like he could never quite be sure of himself unless Miguel approved, which was why Miguel tended to win arguments between the two (that, and The Face was awfully hard to resist). When Miguel did agree with one of Tulio's schemes (and most of the time, he did), his enthusiasm was such that all things seemed possible, even to Tulio's cautious mind.

Rosa, of course, was thrilled with the plan, and thrilled with the idea that she was being entrusted to help her big brother and his best friend with one of their money-making ventures.

"It'll be great! My swordfighting skills will be so amazing that no one will be able to take their eyes off me!" she declared, dancing about with a sword in her hand. Tulio had to jump back to avoid the point of the blade, and decided that enthusiasm definitely ran in the family.

"Be careful with that, Rosa!" Miguel chided. "And listen." He took her by her shoulders so that she was forced to stop twirling and look up at him. "You can't tell mum and dad about this, all right? They're not allowed to know where the money came from."

"So what will you tell them?" asked Rosa. "If they ask?"

"Um…" Miguel hadn't thought of that. He looked at Tulio, who was always far better at inventing things on the spot.

"Tell them… Tell them that you were paid to run an errand!" supplied Tulio. "For a soldier. Or a nobleman. Take your pick."

"Yeah. I ran an errand for a soldier." Miguel breathed out in relief. It was lucky that he had Tulio to rely on for quick inventions that would get them out of difficult situations. It didn't matter if he was 'dull-brained' so long as he had Tulio with him.

"So when are we doing it? Today?" asked Rosa, wriggling out of Miguel's grip and engaging in another swordfight with the air. Fortunately it was early enough in the morning for the streets to be deserted, so she had plenty of room to spin around, stumble and nearly fall before Tulio caught her halfway. Her face rapidly turned pink – living up to her name – as she disentangled herself and straightened up.

"Are you all right?" Tulio asked her.

"Yeah! Fine!" replied Rosa breathlessly. Miguel just shook his head.

"No, we're not doing it today," he said, "because you still need to practice. People won't be dazzled if you fall over like that during our distraction. We have to keep it going long enough for Tulio to go round the whole crowd."

Rosa stuck her tongue out at him. "I bet I can still fight you into the ground! Come on, big brother, let's duel." She pointed the sword at him.

Tulio laughed at Rosa's attempt at fighting talk. "Yeah, go on, 'big brother'! Let's see if you can win against a girl."

Miguel grinned slyly. "I won against you, didn't I?"

"Oooh, low blow," said Tulio, but he grinned as well.

This time, Tulio was the one to lean against the wall and watch as Miguel and Rosa engaged in combat. He could see that Miguel was going easy on his sister, and that he had to step it up a little as she proved more competent than he expected. Rosa's brow was furrowed in concentration as she parried Miguel's blows with all the strength in her nine-year-old arms. They were already starting to ache, but she was determined to keep it up for as long as she could.

For his part, Miguel found fighting his sister oddly like fighting Tulio – an inexperienced Tulio. His best friend was right, though: Rosa had learnt a remarkable amount in just one day, and he could feel her adapting to his fighting style as they went along, learning to predict some of his moves and thus blocking them better. She'd make a fine swordswoman yet.

After not much longer, however, Rosa suddenly dropped below one of his blows and sat down on the ground. "Okay! Okay! You win for now, I'm tired." She flopped onto her back and let the sword roll out of her slack grip, forcing a startled passer-by to skirt around her as they made their way down the street.

"There's no 'for now' in swordplay!" Miguel told her. "You either win or you lose, and since you're giving up…"

"No!" Rosa began to struggle back up, then gave up and lay back down. "I just – need to catch my breath…"

"Let the lady rest!" said Tulio, stooping to pick up Rosa's sword. "You can do battle with me in the meantime, and rest assured I will not pull my… er… slashes!"

"That's fine with me!" retorted Miguel, and they began fighting. The fight lasted until Rosa decided she had recovered, with neither boy willing to concede the duel. Then Tulio took over with Rosa, helping her to improve her technique and giving her pointers on fighting Miguel, which was an odd experience for Miguel as he heard Tulio describing things he wasn't even aware of doing in battle. He realised, though, that he could probably explain Tulio's fighting style equally well. Afterwards, Rosa sat down to rest in the sunshine whilst the two boys practiced, and so on until sunset brought an end to their activities.

The next few days were much the same, though with Tulio and Miguel taking time out to swindle a few pesetas out of some particularly clueless local thugs. Rosa was grudgingly allowed to watch, but not allowed to say _anything_ on pain of a very severe punishment. She knew better than to ask to join in.

Finally, Tulio pronounced Rosa ready to put their plan into action. It was Friday, which meant that the actual day would be Saturday, and market day. This could be good or bad depending on their luck: good, because more people meant more pockets to pick, and bad because more people also meant a higher probability of being found out. Tulio explained this all to them as they walked home that evening; Rosa nodded solemnly, but Miguel just shrugged it off. "That's what makes it fun!"

Tulio sighed. Enthusiasm was all very well, but it would be nice sometimes if Miguel appreciated the seriousness of things, the risk involved. "What I'm saying is that we have to be _careful_."

"And we will be!" replied Miguel cheerfully. "But honestly, Tulio, what could go wrong?"

" _Hundreds_ of things," said Tulio, and began to list them.

 

Nine o'clock on Saturday morning found Miguel ambling around the edge of the sea of market stalls, pretending to browse the wares on display. Any minute now, Rosa was going to come up to him and start a fight. He wasn't sure how, exactly; Tulio had whispered something in her ear, which meant that it could be practically anything. If it was something lewd, Miguel would kill Tulio for corrupting his sister. Still, the element of unpredictability meant it would seem more genuine. Miguel hoped Rosa would come soon; some of the stall-holders were giving him suspicious looks because of the sword in his belt, and because he kept wandering around the same area. He had to stay on the outskirts so that they had space for the swordfight.

"Hey, you!"

Miguel jumped at the shout, having been caught up in his thoughts. He turned to see Rosa standing a few feet away, and managed not to show any signs of relief. It was fortunate that all the cons he'd done with Tulio – even the unsuccessful ones – had improved his acting skills.

"What?" he asked as Rosa stormed over, sounding as annoyed as possible. She was wearing a pretty, un-patched dress, in order to look like someone of decent social standing and not just a peasant girl. No one would bother to watch a fight between two lowly street urchins. It made her look older, as well; Miguel just hoped it wouldn't get dirtied in the swordfight.

"You! You broke my sister's heart!" Rosa looked furious, and he silently approved of her acting skills – right before she slapped him across the face.

Miguel's hand flew up to his red cheek, and he didn't need to fake the look of indignation that spread over his face. He vowed to get back at Tulio for thinking this up – though Rosa looked like she was enjoying herself, too. "What invention is this? I have never met your sister!" Miguel cried.

"You mean you don't _remember_ her, you unfaithful heartbreaker?! Have you charmed so many women that their faces blur into one?" The loud dispute was beginning to attract attention as shoppers turned to watch the commotion.

Miguel was slightly shocked by the words coming out of his sister's mouth. He'd like to think that Tulio had told her to say all this, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Rosa was making at least some of it up. What was more, it was quite possible that she had learnt these things from listening to himself and Tulio.

"I can assure you that I have never broken a single heart in my life!" Miguel widened his eyes at Rosa to signal her to move backwards so that they would have more room. She got the message and began to back away, snorting to show what she thought of his protests. "And what's more," continued Miguel, advancing and closing the distance, "if your looks are anything to judge by then I doubt your sister is comely enough for my taste!"

Rosa gasped with outrage, even flushing slightly, and Miguel had an idea that she wasn't pretending any more either. "Why, you _rogue_!" she shouted. "I have a mind to teach you a lesson… with _this_!" She suddenly darted to one side and retrieved her sword from where they had concealed it earlier, behind one of the many fountains that decorated the town square. "On your guard!"

 _It's 'en garde'_ , thought Miguel, but now wasn't the time to correct her wording. "If that's the way you want it, then so be it," he said, and drew his own sword. "We duel!"

They launched into battle, and Miguel noted out of the corner of his eye that the loud clash of metal was drawing yet more onlookers; they now had quite a crowd. Miguel searched for Tulio's figure among them, and paid for his lapse in attention with a badly-blocked lunge from Rosa that sent him stumbling backwards. "Careful!" he hissed at her. Miguel upped the force of his attack, driving her back, until her foot caught in the hem of her dress and she tripped, ripping the garment as she fell. Miguel tried to keep his face impassive as he pointed his sword at her. "On your feet!" He was aware that the crowd was yelling abuse at him for attacking a young lady, and it was only a matter of time before someone came to help Rosa up.

Then she was on her feet again, expression dismayed – what would their mother say about the tear? – but managing to turn the situation to their advantage. "You _scoundrel_!" she cried. "Can you not involve yourself in a situation without ruining something?" They both fought harder and faster, with the eyes of half the marketplace on them.

"Hey! That's them! It's those kids from before!"

The shout made both Rosa and Miguel freeze, which was a fatal mistake, as it only confirmed what the guard had suspected. Miguel could see him at the forefront of the spectators, pointing an accusing and triumphant figure at the fair-haired siblings. Other guards were turning, taking notice – and then, even worse:

"They've got our swords! And there's the brat that stole them!"

The finger this time was pointed at Tulio, who stood stock still next to a woman whose purse he had been about to take. He put on his most innocent expression. "Who, me?"

Unfortunately, it didn't work, as a man nearby checked his belt and gave a cry of alarm. "My purse! It's gone! Thief!"

There was no time for improvisation; Tulio started running, pushing his way through the gathered masses, and as he reached Miguel and Rosa, they ran with him. Once they reached the other side of the square, Tulio ducked into a side alley, and the other two followed him. It didn't matter whether or not they knew where they were going; every time there was a turning, they took it, and all the time, Miguel could hear the footsteps of the guards in hot pursuit. He caught Rosa's hand and pulled her along behind him; she was flagging, already tired from the swordfight, but she kept running without complaint, and Miguel thought that the footfalls were growing fainter – were they? Another turn was made, and another, and Miguel had to strain his ears to hear their pursuers now. They were getting away!

Encouraged, he put on another spurt of speed, and Rosa struggled to do the same. They were in an entirely unfamiliar area of the city now, but it didn't matter; they could find their way back later. As long as they were home by sunset, their mother wouldn't worry unduly. The torn dress was another matter, but it could be mended, and Miguel was confident that Tulio would think of an excuse for them to use.

At last they collapsed, in a dank, cobbled alley lined by houses, with a washing line stretched overhead. Miguel doubled over, gasping, and Rosa sat down altogether without caring about the state of her dress. Tulio leant against a wall, also panting hard. Miguel listened out for the sound of running feet, but all he heard was his own heartbeat, pumping at twice its usual rate. He couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. "Yes! We did it! That was great!" He straightened up as his breathing began to slow, and asked Tulio, "How much did we get?"

Tulio was grinning as well. "Loads!" He pulled out a few purses and no small amount of coins from his pockets. There was also a pretty brooch, which he presented to Rosa with a bow. "Your spoils, milady." Rosa took the brooch and gazed at it reverently.

"Once we get home, we can divide it all up properly," said Tulio. His smile faded and he added, "But we'll have to steer clear of the marketplace from now on."

"Oh, only for a few days," said Miguel dismissively. "They'll forget our faces soon enough. Besides, this lot will last us ages!" He gestured at the loot.

"Well… maybe," agreed Tulio reluctantly. He looked around with a thoughtful frown. "You know, I think I might know where we are. More or less. Let's try going this way." He started in what seemed to Miguel to be a random direction, but Miguel followed him happily enough, reasoning that if they got lost, Tulio would be able to get them back on track. He had done before.

"By the way," said Miguel as they walked, "I have a bone to pick with you about the things you told Rosa to say to me. Apparently I'm an 'unfaithful heartbreaker'?" He glanced sidelong at his friend.

"What?" Either Tulio was genuinely confused by this, or he was doing a very good job of pretending. "I told her to say that you owed her money!"

"What?" Both boys stared at Rosa, who tried and failed to look innocent. "Rosa, you little minx!" said Miguel. He went to give her a push which she dodged, and danced away giggling. "That's the last time you help us out with a plan!" he threatened.

"No way!" said Tulio. "She was great, you know she was. And she'll be especially good for the next idea I have in mind…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! :D


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